Flight From Hambley Farm (Foxglove Key)
Revelations shared upon the return from Hambley Farm. Flight from Hambley Farm The discovery of the key bearing the Foxglove crest came as something of a startling revelation. The suspicion that somehow Tsuto had been returned to life and pursuing his unholy obsession with his half-sister gave way to the realization that something else, someone else had been behind the terrible crimes visits upon Sandpoint and the surrounding lands. The ritualistic murder of the local con men, Banny Harker, Titus Scarnetti and his wife, as well as the seeming incidental deaths of Katrine Vinder and others became even more mysterious at the thought that Aldern Foxglove may have somehow been behind it. Concern for the safety of Ameiko shifted abruptly to fear for Shayliss Vinder, the girl whom had briefly been caught between he and Ezra as rivals for her affections. The ride home went as quickly as could be managed, supporting the woman Hannah Guffman and her daughter Lettie, both weakened, feverish and suffering from the late stages of ghoul fever. Maester Grump did all that he could, showing remarkable composure in the face of the horrors that had been discovered on the Hambley Farm. Scarecrows coming to life and leaping from their crosses, families and lifestock slaughtered, half-eaten and the stench of the creature whom had been bearing the key you discovered seemed to cling still to you all. On the ride back, in terse discussions, Ameiko shared what she could remember about Foxglove Manor, now known as ‘The Misgivings’. “No one has lived there for twenty or thirty years, not as long as I’ve been alive, at any rate. I seem to remember now someone mentioning that it was abandoned when some sort of tragedy struck the family living there – a fire, I think - and it’s supposedly been haunted ever since. Every now and then someone will come into the inn with stories of lights seen in the upper windows, the sound of screams echoing from up or down the coast… old Crastor even said he saw a bat-winged demon flying over the place once, but we just figured he’d been in his cups. He claims to have seen the Sandpoint Devil too.” “As far as I know, Aldern kept a place in Magnimar, which is why I guess I never associated him with the place, but it was definitely once known as Foxglove Manor, and that key we found matches the Foxglove Crest. Rogor Crosby – that’s the creature we found in the barn – he is, well was, an old trader who used to run a couple of wagons up and down the Lost Coast between Riddleport and Magnimar, buying and selling along the way. He retired years ago and was set to be caretaker for that place… used to come into town for supplies once a month or so. Quiet sort of fellow, I’d heard that he had lost his own family a while back, and since he's mostly kept to himself. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in town since the Swallowtail Festival... but then, you could say the same about lots of people.” You manage to arrive in Sandpoint with an hour still left before dawn. Clouds have rolled in, heralding another winter storm on its way, obscuring the moonlight which had cast such eerie shadows at the Hambley Farm. The town is anything but dark, however – as you near it seems like every guardsman Hemlock has as well as a more than a few citizens have gathered on the streets, torches and lanterns milling about this way and that. Hemlock meets you not far from the town gate with a now familiar grim look on his face. “There hasn’t been another murder – at least, we don’t think so yet. But the girl Shayliss is missing. Everyone’s up looking for some sign of her, but so far nothing. There were some muddy footprints outside her window, and the place stank of… well, you know what it stank of. We found some letters she’s apparently been exchanging with Aldern Foxglove, and in them he tells her he’s coming from her – we’re starting to think he did.” The beleaguered Sheriff shakes his head. “Old Ven is beside himself. He was all a’raging when he found out about Katrine, but I think this latest blow, I think it might have broken him.” Even as he speaks, he turns his head and notes Ven Vinder approaching, the man as pale as a ghost, his hair bedraggled and his eyes wild and puffy. His diminutive wife clings to his arm, but whether it’s in an effort to restrain him or to simply keep from collapsing herself is difficult to tell. As he nears, his eyes take in each of you, clearly battle-worn and road-weary, surrounded by your charges. He swallows, and when he speaks his voice has tremulous tone to it, as if spoken by a man half his size. “You know where she is. You know who has her. I know you do. Ever since you came to this town…” he trails off, looking about as if confused and in despair, before lurching forward and seizing Jasper’s leg in an iron grip that spoke more of desperation than menace, “…please,” the words can barely be heard, “she’s all I have left. Find her. Bring her back. Anything you want, I’ll do. You can take the whole damned town to hell if you want but please just bring back my little girl…” The man breaks down into sobs, falling to one knee there beside your horse and his wife moves to gather him up once more, her own face stricken at what he rworld has become. Her silent tear-stained gaze up at you adds her voice to his plea before she begins whispering that he should come away, let the Heroes of Sandpoint do their business. The Sheriff watches them go and then looks back at you. “I don’t know how it could be Aldern, unless something got to him – fellow’s always been harmless… but then, we seem to be saying that a lot these days.” Ameiko speaks up. “Sheriff, what we found on the Hambley Farm, there were undead everywhere, they had overrun the place. These fellows took care of them – but the greatest among them was some… thing… that used to be Rogor Crosby. He was carrying this around his neck.” She presented him with the key, which he took and turned over in the torchlight, considering it a moment. “That’s the Foxglove Crest alright.” Handing her back the key, he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, obviously torn. “It may be that the girl is still alive. If she is, The Misgivings might be where to look. Place has a bad history – the Varisians gave it that name, after all that took place. Few decades back, there was a fire, burnt down the servants quarters. Cyralie Foxglove, I guess that would be Aldern’s mother, was found dead… burnt as well and dashed on the rocky shore below the house. Her husband Traver was inside, dead by his own hand. Slit his throat, they say. As I recall, Aldern was the youngest, but he had a couple of older sisters… they all got bundled off to live with family, somewhere near Korvosa, I think, but Aldern started showing up here a couple of years ago on his hunting trips. Guess he came home.” He scratches his jaw, frowning as he thought. “Can’t really tell you any more than that. Well, that and I seem to remember there being something about disease having taken the place. Maybe way, way back when it was first built. Don’t really remember where I heard that, might have gotten worked in with some of them haunting stories." Category:Exposition